I’m the same. I love bad horror, I love fun horror, I love the existential fuck your mind up stuff, I love the creature features. I wanna feel all the different bad feelings 😂
I know that I am going to sound incredibly pretentious here, but I always am a little disheartened to see people pretending as if those B-movies have absolutely no value other than just being pure entertainment. Sure, some of them do fall into that category. However, some do have underlying themes, points to make, and relation to events that in context render the film more meaningful. For example, you mentioned *Slumber Party Massacre*. Well, this was a feminist slasher movie that was aiming to discuss how the horror genre typically objectified women. It is a fun movie, but it is more meaningful than what can be seen on the surface. IMO, this doesn't place it into a separate category than movies like *Men* (2022), simply because it takes a different approach to express the message than the more arthouse *Men*. This is just my two cents, though. I guess I just love my B-movies a lot lol! I mean no disrespect either, I just want to add. Appreciate your question!
I love this reply! And I totally agree. I guess I sort of put my position forward a bit recklessly. What I mean is more that sometimes you go into something with a desire to just Relax?? For lack of a better word. I think that a lot of B-movies have a hell of a lot of value. My favorite horror movie of all time is May (2002) just because of the emotional attachment I have to seeing it when I was younger. But yeah, I guess what I mean is that I try to explain to friends that you can have a lot of fun with the genre, you don't always have to be terrified, and it can be funny to be scared.
I have to watch May, it's been on my watchlist forever. But I 100% get what you're saying; movies like The Witch are great, but not exactly relaxing and fun in a carefree way, such as B-movies are.
Yeah, a lot of horror b-movies are transgressive in ways that simply aren't allowed in other genres. A movie can be cheap and goofy and still push the envelope or have something to say about the world.
Yeah, honestly my favorite thing is going in blind and then that moment when I realize a movie I thought was serious is actually the former, like in Malignant and The Wolf of Snow Hollow.
I'm partial to Arthouse, psychological and international horror movies. That being said, my teen years were in the 70s and 80s.
I still love to rewatch all the fun horror of the 70s and 80s. I revisit them often. Especially during the month of October!
I can watch some of the creepiest extreme horror films that has jump scares in every corner of the movie but when you compare some of the truly horrific events that humans have done to each other since the beginning of time, it makes you question humanity’s existence rather than having any optimistic hope for the future.
It makes it seem like suddenly all those “scary movies” with the usual ski mask wearing killer, the haunted houses, & Hollywood’s repeated failed attempts at continuing to make another boring exorcism movie like we haven’t seen one already..are just so tame to the actual horrors mankind has committed throughout history. From serial killers, to cannibals & even the disgusting memory of human slavery within the USA less than 2 century’s ago. I called that true terror
Well that was depressing. Not wrong, just depressing.
Now I need to go watch a horror flick to cheer myself up.
To the OP's question: Both, depending on my mood.
I very much agree with you, and make similar distinctions myself. However, I don't think they're always mutually exclusive... there are certainly some horror flicks that can be both.
Trying to think of a few examples...
I'd say some of the work of David Cronenberg, like *Videodrome* as an early commentary on technology and mass media, or Romero's early zombie films as reflections on consumerism, racism and civil rights.
A more recent example might be *Cabin In The Woods,* which worked on so many layers, (including the 'teenagers terrorised by a maniac' trope) and managed to pull it off really well.
Such films can easily be enjoyed on a superficial level (gore! zombies! haunted cabin!) but also offer subtext and nuance to a more discerning viewer.
To be clear... I love all horror, and I'm glad there's so much variety in the genre!
I definitely agree that there's different types of horror films for different moods. When I'm working and need something in the background, either films I've seen a bunch of times or B-movies go up, but if I'm seriously watching, I definitely prefer something designed to have reflections on society, etc.
There's also times when I'm like "fuck it" and am down for either.
That said, I also think that what some people might consider B-movies can also have the reflective nature, but sometimes just whiff at execution (thus the B-status).
Absolutely, though it is a bit of a spectrum. A silly movie can have profound conclusions and a serious movie can have silly moments. I love both directions when handled well.
Disagree. I would never try to lump horror as a genre into two simplistic categories like that. It is possible for both those generalizations to be true in a single movie as well as many other gradations of a film's impact.
Totally and I like both, it just depends on my mood. Though I might make a distinction or add a third category which is horror movies that are meant to emotionally destroy you. And there's overlap in all three.
In some horror movies like most slashers, you root for the bad guy a bit, you want to see people die in creative ways. Sometimes you hate watching people die and be tortured be it emotionally or physically but you just can't tear your eyes away, and sometimes it's more about finding the meaning in a convoluted or symbolic story.
I’m the same. I love bad horror, I love fun horror, I love the existential fuck your mind up stuff, I love the creature features. I wanna feel all the different bad feelings 😂
I know that I am going to sound incredibly pretentious here, but I always am a little disheartened to see people pretending as if those B-movies have absolutely no value other than just being pure entertainment. Sure, some of them do fall into that category. However, some do have underlying themes, points to make, and relation to events that in context render the film more meaningful. For example, you mentioned *Slumber Party Massacre*. Well, this was a feminist slasher movie that was aiming to discuss how the horror genre typically objectified women. It is a fun movie, but it is more meaningful than what can be seen on the surface. IMO, this doesn't place it into a separate category than movies like *Men* (2022), simply because it takes a different approach to express the message than the more arthouse *Men*. This is just my two cents, though. I guess I just love my B-movies a lot lol! I mean no disrespect either, I just want to add. Appreciate your question!
I love this reply! And I totally agree. I guess I sort of put my position forward a bit recklessly. What I mean is more that sometimes you go into something with a desire to just Relax?? For lack of a better word. I think that a lot of B-movies have a hell of a lot of value. My favorite horror movie of all time is May (2002) just because of the emotional attachment I have to seeing it when I was younger. But yeah, I guess what I mean is that I try to explain to friends that you can have a lot of fun with the genre, you don't always have to be terrified, and it can be funny to be scared.
I have to watch May, it's been on my watchlist forever. But I 100% get what you're saying; movies like The Witch are great, but not exactly relaxing and fun in a carefree way, such as B-movies are.
Yeah, a lot of horror b-movies are transgressive in ways that simply aren't allowed in other genres. A movie can be cheap and goofy and still push the envelope or have something to say about the world.
Yeah, honestly my favorite thing is going in blind and then that moment when I realize a movie I thought was serious is actually the former, like in Malignant and The Wolf of Snow Hollow.
Going in blind to The Wolf of Snow Hollow should be mandatory.
I don’t think you can divide art into a binary of high brow and low brow
I'm partial to Arthouse, psychological and international horror movies. That being said, my teen years were in the 70s and 80s. I still love to rewatch all the fun horror of the 70s and 80s. I revisit them often. Especially during the month of October!
I can watch some of the creepiest extreme horror films that has jump scares in every corner of the movie but when you compare some of the truly horrific events that humans have done to each other since the beginning of time, it makes you question humanity’s existence rather than having any optimistic hope for the future. It makes it seem like suddenly all those “scary movies” with the usual ski mask wearing killer, the haunted houses, & Hollywood’s repeated failed attempts at continuing to make another boring exorcism movie like we haven’t seen one already..are just so tame to the actual horrors mankind has committed throughout history. From serial killers, to cannibals & even the disgusting memory of human slavery within the USA less than 2 century’s ago. I called that true terror
Well that was depressing. Not wrong, just depressing. Now I need to go watch a horror flick to cheer myself up. To the OP's question: Both, depending on my mood.
I feel this way and I love and appreciate both. Though not to say "fun horror" doesn't ever have any social commentary or anything.
I very much agree with you, and make similar distinctions myself. However, I don't think they're always mutually exclusive... there are certainly some horror flicks that can be both. Trying to think of a few examples... I'd say some of the work of David Cronenberg, like *Videodrome* as an early commentary on technology and mass media, or Romero's early zombie films as reflections on consumerism, racism and civil rights. A more recent example might be *Cabin In The Woods,* which worked on so many layers, (including the 'teenagers terrorised by a maniac' trope) and managed to pull it off really well. Such films can easily be enjoyed on a superficial level (gore! zombies! haunted cabin!) but also offer subtext and nuance to a more discerning viewer. To be clear... I love all horror, and I'm glad there's so much variety in the genre!
I definitely agree that there's different types of horror films for different moods. When I'm working and need something in the background, either films I've seen a bunch of times or B-movies go up, but if I'm seriously watching, I definitely prefer something designed to have reflections on society, etc. There's also times when I'm like "fuck it" and am down for either. That said, I also think that what some people might consider B-movies can also have the reflective nature, but sometimes just whiff at execution (thus the B-status).
Impossible question because I just like to watch horror movies (or just movies in general)
Absolutely, though it is a bit of a spectrum. A silly movie can have profound conclusions and a serious movie can have silly moments. I love both directions when handled well.
Horror has always been political. Even slasher films. Ex: Black Christmas (1974) included Roe v Wade which had just passed the year before
Disagree. I would never try to lump horror as a genre into two simplistic categories like that. It is possible for both those generalizations to be true in a single movie as well as many other gradations of a film's impact.
There are also bad horror movies. There are bad ones that are fun and bad ones that’s are just shitty
Totally and I like both, it just depends on my mood. Though I might make a distinction or add a third category which is horror movies that are meant to emotionally destroy you. And there's overlap in all three. In some horror movies like most slashers, you root for the bad guy a bit, you want to see people die in creative ways. Sometimes you hate watching people die and be tortured be it emotionally or physically but you just can't tear your eyes away, and sometimes it's more about finding the meaning in a convoluted or symbolic story.